Another
storm has passed through the area and evening sun splashes distant ridges gleaming
off faraway temples as misty handlebar moustaches droop over mountainsides.
Ravens caw in the darkness and your author slips inside his domicile after an
exasperating trip to Trashigang. I thought I might slink away after an irksome
week on campus but my mellow weekend turned out to be anything but. I lost the
handle this week mismanaging behavior problems in the classroom. Since I don’t
beat certain class nine students are taking advantage of me and being ornery which
makes me surly. One comical event was little Phuntsho Wangmo in class seven
exclaiming, “Oh Shit man” when I asked to see her homework, where do they come
up with this stuff? So when Saturday rolled around I postponed a hike with
students and headed to Doksom to view the river. In Doksom I encountered Lee from
Yangtse town who was headed to T-Gang to meet “the Jungle East Massive” and
others who were gathering. I wasn’t altogether convinced of my social abilities
so I departed from Lee at Gom Kora to spin wheels around and repent. After
returning to the road a taxi whisked up and collected me depositing me in
T-Gang at dusk. I joined my comrades at the bakery for a surprise party in
attendance were Becky, Collin, Lee, Jon, Ashleigh, and Kyle who was astray from
Trongsa. Oh yeah and Ashleigh’s friend Sangay. Sangay happened to be quite
fetching or emahotsi a term Jon coined on the spot. Well Club Desire was
bumping in my heart a sickening display for your golden boy as the doors opened
early that day in Doksom. In Doksom I made my way down a dirt road and saw a youngish
woman gathering water in a pale. Well as it happens I stumbled upon the same
woman at the same time last year when she was bathing wrapped ONLY in an
Arizona Cardinal’s towel. We remembered one another so tongue and cheek I
mentioned I was going to the river and wondered if she might join me and to my
shock she dropped her pale and slid alongside your incorrigible author. Well by
and by she got a phone call and ran away leaving me to suck that awful pit of
desire. Back in T-Gang I watched Sangay pin up her hair then take it down and
toss it around flirting with Jon or whoever and a twinge of envy sprang up as
the bass thundered louder at CLUB DESIRE. Well Buddha the bouncer happened
along and 86’d me for my impurities but I snuck in the backdoor with lustful
dilated pupils, oh what’s the use? Not that I even wanted either of these woman
but on a subatomic level I guess I was aroused, oh how sinful life can be and
lonesome too. After dinner my room at the K.C became the epicentre of iniquity
and by the time the krewe departed at 1 AM room 210 looked like Led Zeppelin
had hosted the Who for an evening of debauchery with empties rattling around
the floor, cigarette smoke lingering in the air, and the toilet seat lying next
to the bed. It’s always good to see other phelincpa’s even though I was
dragging my social feet on this night, although I did manage to work Ashleigh
into hysterics that garnered a reprimanding pinch or three. I woke up after a
fitful nicotine fumed sleep moody blues style and knocked around town visiting
Phuntsho the oracle who delivered spot on insights on my condition saying I was
angry and half my students failed as if she was standing beside me all week in
the classroom. The gang took breakfast and I bit Becky on the arm, by default Becky
Story is my health buddy and if one was to tell the tale they might say a rabid
ANIMAL bit his health partner before bolting off into the hills never to be
seen again. (Talk about biting the hand that feeds you) Well she forgave me by
and by and about four and twenty in the afternoon Lee and I splashed out of
Trashigang in a VW Van that had pictures of lamas tucked into its visors like
snaps of Jerry or Trey and I was dropped off at Zongposo among fragrant hemp
and a towering maize crop. I walked up the peaceful road half-heartedly reminding
myself of all my blessings and was finally collected by a truck headed to
Rangthangwoong.

About Me

I was raised in Marin County Cailifornia north of San Francisco. I was blessed growing up spending summers with my family on Donner Lake near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I earned my B.S in English and Writing from Southern Oregon University in Ashland. After college I spent some years skiing at Alpine Meadows before teaching ESL in South Korea for a year. I was fortunate to travel to Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia while in Asia. I was particularly fascinated by Khmer culture and enjoyed my visit to Angkor. I recently completed my teacher training at Dominican University in San Rafael receiving my California Credential. With the support of The Bhutan Canada Foundaton I am leaving for Bhutan in January 2012 for a stint as a teacher.